Passwords

[FarmerJo]

Hi,

When Windows XP Pro is installed onto a machine there is a point where a password needs to be given for the administrators account (PASSWORD #1).

and when the users are added for the first time, both a username and password is also given (PASSWORD #2).

My first question is can PASSWORD #1 be changed after installation has completed? If not what would be the consequence of having two machines on the same network with same PASSWORD #1?

I use three machines (XP Pro, all in the same workgroup and all with differenct PASSWORD #2, but two machines have the same PASSWORD #1) on the same network.

When I create a share on any PC and wish to access it on another I sometimes get prompted for a user name and password and have never been clear which password it expects (it appears to want PASSWORD #1 since I changed all PASSWORD #2 recently but it would only accept PASSWORD #1 still).

What should I input for both the username and password?

DESKTOP/Administrator
PASSWORD #1

appears to work, but so does

Administrator
PASSWORD #1

What is the significant of the DESKTOP/ part of the username?

If the network only requires PASSWORD #1 then is PASSWORD #2 only used for logon purposes?

Regards FarmerJo

[Greenstead]

:confused:

[FarmerJo]

Hi,

Yes I have run through similar checks to those suggested and still the problem remained until this morning that was, when it magically went away and I still do not know why.

I did run ipconfig /all on two of the machines but it showed a Node Type of Unknown.

The only thing I did this morning was to disable the guest account on one of the machines so that it was the same as the other two. Anyway that part is OK for now.

It appears that when a machine attempts to access a share on another machine and needs a user name and password it is looking for the details of the administrators account that was setup during installation of the OS. IE

<MachineName>/Administrator
<Password>

Where <MachineName> and <Password> were both selected during installation and NOT the ones used by the user to log onto the machine.

Does this appear correct?

Can the the machines administrator account name and password be changed like a users account can?

Is it OK to delete the Guest account in Computer Management|Local Users & Groups|Users?

I have run my machine for ages now with it disabled anyway, its an account that I do not use.

Does the Administrator have any special abilities that a user Administrator does not have?

Regards FarmerJo